Penitence
by Belfast Docks
Summary: She has a strange way of worming into and crawling under his skin, and he hates that as much as he hates the fact that he is trapped on Earth. - Razalude X Umi, lemony.


**Author's Notes:**

**A short smattering of Razalude X Umi.****  
**

**Rated M for sexual situations (lemony!) and a teensy bit of violence. Proceed at your own risk. If you don't like, don't read any further. Just go back and find something else. Flames are ignored/deleted.**

**~Belfast Docks**

* * *

**Penitence**

She bounces, she skips.

She giggles far too much. She teases.

She yells at him, she yells at her brother, and she sings off-key in the shower.

She pours over the Book of Spells when she should be doing her algebra homework; she shovels food into her mouth like an uncouth tomboy instead of a young lady.

Then, as if she is a bizarre oxymoron, she turns around and paints her nails cotton candy pink, and bitches because she's not allowed to wear lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, or blush.

She is sarcastic, whiny, demanding. She complains, she rants, she huffs.

She drives him insane; she tries his patience constantly. She doesn't seem to notice how much she irritates him, and that pisses him off even more.

Her brother is unflappable and seems to understand their new houseguest's frustrations. Nakaoji tries to curtail her endless energy for Raz's sake, but Umi is unstoppable and she doesn't really listen to Nakaoji very much, regardless.

She prefers _him_ to her brother – her 'demon' that she somehow summoned from another world through her ancestor's Book of Spells. Furthermore, it annoys her that her demon and her brother are on speaking terms; that her demon has the gall to side with her brother instead of doing what she commands. She is his summoner after all, not her brother!

She reminds him of the fact on a daily basis: _she is his summoner; he, the demon_.

He snarls at her, he yells at her, he tries to make her cry; he thumps her on the head and tells her she's an idiot. When none of that fazes her, he tries to ignore her.

But she has a strange way of worming into and crawling under his skin, and he hates that as much as he hates the fact that he is trapped on Earth.

_Earth_.

His personal hell, his prison.

oOo

The first _real_ fight they engage in takes place after her first 'boyfriend' dumps her for another girl.

('Boyfriend' in the loosest sense of the word. They didn't actually go on a date; she only flirted with him at school. Badly.)

She screams at Raz like a banshee, completely beyond reason, because she's fourteen and irrational. She tries to pummel his chest with her small fists, doing no damage and succeeding only in pissing him off further.

"I want you to _kill him_! You _have_ to do what I say!"

He won't obey her request; instead, he coldly informs her to cool off. Life isn't always fair. One can't always have what they want.

(He should know.)

She bursts into furious tears and desperately tries to claw at him, wanting to hurt him in her anger and frustration. Hoping to fuse some of her pain into him, to lessen the ache within her own chest.

But he already knows what it feels like to have your heart shatter apart, to have everything important stripped away from you.

Her? No. She has no idea. _This_ is nothing. This is just a little crush, insignificant and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

He grabs her wrists to hold her steady. She struggles against him; then she goes limp and sobs that the other girl, the one she was dumped for, is so _very_ pretty – with long, swirling brown hair and boobs that stretch her school uniform a bit too tight. Everyone's always _staring_ at Hiromi. No one ever stares at _her_. And the guy she had such a crush on, told that she's just a mere child...not worth a man's time, not like beautiful _Hiromi_.

His upper lip wrinkles into a snarl. "He's a high school _boy_, Umi. Hardly a _man_. And if you stop dressing like a child and acting like a child, and grow up, you wouldn't be in this situation."

She yelps, "I'm _not_ a child! Kill him! You're _my_ demon! I _order_ you to kill him! What good is it to have you here, if you aren't going to do what I _say_?"

He bristles. "I'm not a demon," he growls. "I can do anything I damn well please, and I don't need a _little girl_ ordering me around!"

"I'm _not_ a little girl!" she shrieks, her eyes blazing furiously.

And before he realizes it, she throws her arms around his neck and presses her lips to his.

It startles him; he staggers backwards. He releases her wrists in surprise, the back of his knees hit his bed, and his back hits the mattress. She falls on top of him, knocking the breath out of him. She is sprawled across his chest, her nose just millimeters from his, her eyes wide and shocked and innocent. It is as though she can't believe what she's done, or how they've ended up in this position.

His lips tingle, though it wasn't exactly a real kiss. The sensation is odd. Burning. It makes his skin shiver; it makes him want more.

For a split second, he considers the possibilities. It would be so _easy_ to just...

But before he makes up his mind, she pushes off of him and sprints out of the room, her face bright pink from embarrassment.

oOo

She comes home the next day with her pigtails gone and her hair bobbed short.

Nakaoji blinks at the change, but says nothing.

Raz stares, struck by how much more attractive it makes her look.

oOo

When she bounds down the stairs two mornings later in a mini-skirt and high heels, she trips on the bottom step and lands in his arms and up against his chest, as he reaches out to catch her from hitting the floor.

His gaze lingers on the low-cut top and the subtle curves of her small breasts, the slender curve of her calves shown off by the straps on her ridiculous shoes. He could wrap his fingers around her leg and the index would touch the thumb. He could cup her breasts in his hands, grazing his thumbs over the nipples beneath the scrap of lace covering her. He could make her scream his name over and over, he could make her fingernails claw at his shoulders, leaving red lines in a haze of desperate pleasure...

He clenches his hands to keep from doing something he shouldn't. The thud of blood in his ears is oddly loud.

"Did you stuff the bra?" he asks sardonically, snapping his eyes back to hers to keep her from guessing his real thoughts.

She loses her temper and starts to yell that no, she did _not_ stuff her bra; he grabs her wrists again and shoves her into a seat at the table.

"If you're going to dress like that," he says coolly, "expect lewd comments."

"Raz is right." Nakaoji frowns. "Go upstairs and change, Umi."

oOo

She is making him come undone; she is driving him insane.

All he has to do is look at her across the room and his body starts to react. He hates it; he hates that she is affecting him so. He tries to think of her as a mere child, but her fifteenth birthday is the following week, and on Astale, she would be a legal adult at fifteen. And when the boys in her class call on her and he is forced to watch her leave with them for the movie theatre or the amusement park or the mall, he always discovers a bitter taste in his mouth.

It was his fault. If he hadn't told her to grow up, she wouldn't have suitors from every angle, coming to escort her on dates.

It takes him a few weekends before he realizes that the taste is blood; he bites his tongue whenever she saunters out with a new guy.

oOo

"_No wait, this isn't right... Wait! I'm not ready...!_"

Her soft, whispered protests wake him from a light sleep. For a moment, he listens intently, slightly confused. Was he dreaming?

No. He hears her voice again:

"_Wait...!_"_  
_

He tenses; was she really so _stupid_ as to invite her latest admirer inside the house? He didn't like the guy when she left with him earlier - he was older than she was, and he had a look about him that Raz utterly distrusted.

"_Come on, you'll like it... Don't you love me, Umi?_"

He feels his ire rising rapidly. He tosses the light blanket aside, sprints down the hall to her room, and bursts through the door. Without giving either occupant the chance to realize what is happening, he grabs the prick by his collar, yanks him around, and pins him to the wall.

The boy immediately begins to struggle and claw at the iron-like hand cutting off his windpipe, while his feet kick to find the floor a good two inches below his toes. Behind them, she cries out with fear.

He hears something crash to the floor and break – likely, she backed into the dresser in her clumsiness. _Typical_. He ignores her, even when she tries to pull at his arm to stop him from killing the scum that would try to take her innocence.

He waits patiently until the boy losses consciousness, enjoying a wave of vindictive pleasure as the eyelids flicker and the skin turns pale and the lips turn blue; then he drags the limp body outside and tosses it unceremoniously into a nearby alley, slightly annoyed with himself for not actually killing the jerk.

When he returns to her room, she is absolutely hysterical. She tries to hit him several times (as per usual), desperate to hurt him and, (as per usual), failing.

"_You killed him! You really killed him, didn't you?! Oh God! What are we going to do now? You really killed him!_"

He inhales sharply to try and stay calm, and grabs her hands. "Isn't that why you summoned me here?" he demands angrily. "To kill people? Damn it, what _do_ you want, Umi?"

For a second, she stares at him; then she breaks down into tears and collapses. He snarls, hauls her against his chest, and wraps strong arms around her.

Instead of struggling (as he expected), she locks her arms around his neck and cries into his bare shoulder.

Despite his annoyance, he holds her – almost crushing her to him.

He won't let anyone else touch her, ever again.

oOo

She complains to her brother that none of the boys in school will speak to her anymore. They're all terrified of the strange boy living at her house, afraid that he'll attack them if they come over. Like he attacked Yuu.

She mumbles, "Maybe I should just send him back where he came from. He'd be happier away from here. Away from _me_. He hates me."

Raz sucks in a cold breath, and a wave of confusion washes over him. He does _want_ to return to Astale, doesn't he?

_Doesn't he?_

"Do you really want him to leave?" Nakaoji asks her. His voice is gentle, soft.

There is a long silence.

Then Nakaoji murmurs, "I didn't think so."

"But... He's dangerous," she whispers, as though trying to think of an excuse.

"Ah, he's a good guy inside. And he doesn't _hate_ you."

"Then... You approve?"

He hears Nakaoji chuckle. "Perhaps you should have a long talk with Airi, when she gets back. I think it would do you good."

"Huh? But... I just saw her at school this afternoon! Where did she go?"

"Geez. Where Raz came from, Umi. Haven't you been studying that book? The Airi at school right now...isn't Airi at all."

oOo

He waits until her brother leaves on a date that night, before he slips into her bedroom. Her parents are out of town; there is no one to stop him.

She is sitting on her bed reading the Book of Spells, her brow furrowed in concentration. She doesn't hear him enter; she doesn't notice him as he crosses the room towards her. He reaches over and pulls the book from her slack grip.

Instantly, she gasps and lunges for it, but he places it calmly on her desk, turns to face her, grasps her face with both hands, and bends down to kiss her soundly.

She protests at first, trying to pull away, wanting to put distance between them. But he pushes her back along the bed until he's crawled over her and she's lying beneath him on the thick comforter. Then he coaxes her mouth open, gently, excruciatingly slow. He cups her head with his hand, and traces his tongue down hers.

She relents, as though she cannot help it – as though she is melting beneath him. His blood burns hotly in his wrists and his neck as her tongue flicks against his, and she whimpers and tangles her fingers into his hair. Once, he would have considered an Earthian's hands dirty – he cut his hair once because a girl dared to touch the silken locks – but Umi's fingers are somehow different. Somehow...better.

His other hand trails beneath her shirt and skims along her stomach, pushing her shirt up. His fingertips flirt across her trembling abdomen; he can feel her flushed skin shivering beneath his touch. His lips brush her throat, then her collarbone.

She arches, she gasps, she presses closer.

His blood soars.

He strips her shirt over her head and kisses a slow, lazy pattern along the swells of her small breasts, grazing his teeth over one of her nipples, pebbled as it is against the thin lace of her bra. She moans and her fingers tighten; he welcomes the sharp, physical pull against his scalp. His bare stomach brushes against hers; she cries out softly and her pelvis grinds into his unconsciously, nearly sending him over the edge.

She aches for something she doesn't quite yet understand, but oh, he intends to teach her.

Still, when his fingers easily slip the button loose on her jeans, her eyes fly open.

"Wait...!"

He frowns down at her, his mused hair all in his face, his skin hot and his groin throbbing.

She pauses, registering the dark lust in his eyes; then she whispers, "Do you love me, Raz? I mean, really?"

His brow knits together slightly as he considers. He glances at her chest, at the pale skin between her breasts, and he leans down, contemplating. She twitches beneath him before he presses his lips to her heart, in an open, damp kiss.

He's thought about this before, while lying awake at night - sweating as he tosses and turns and his thoughts become consumed by her and not by Airi. Sweating and stroking until he comes within his palm, while wondering what it would feel like to be _inside_ her, pistoning deep and hard. Buried within her. What would it feel like to crawl inside of her and start to live again?

What it would be like to forget the past, to move _forward_?

What would it be like to kiss her _there_? Over her heart?

But they aren't on Astale, and for now, nothing happens. No insignia flares and glows upon her skin, no brand of marriage ignites beneath his lips.

And he realizes that he's slightly disappointed, which surprises him as much as anything else. Does he truly want to _marry_ this girl?

"Raz...?"

Her voice is small and lost; he looks up at her and his eyes narrow.

"Yes."

He isn't sure what he's agreeing to or not agreeing to. It's all the same and yet it isn't.

"Yes?"

He takes a deep breath. "Just...yes."

And she smiles - a soft, trusting smile that briefly makes him feel like the horrible demon she once thought he was.

She brought him to Earth to take revenge on her behalf; she didn't know he would take her innocence then.

But he will.

Oh, by everything he can swear on, he damn sure will.

He realizes then that she's tugging at his jeans; he sits up and strips them off and tosses them aside, and when he lays back over her, her hands slide slowly down his chest. His lower gut tightens as her fingertips brush the dark nipples on his chest, and he lowers himself completely on top of her.

The moan that escapes her lips as their bare skin comes into contact makes his toes curl and his cock ache. She is warm and soft beneath him; he can already feel the sweat building between her breasts. When she draws her legs up on either side of him, the faint tang of scent reaches his nostrils, even through her own jeans.

She's _dripping_ wet.

For _him_.

He brushes his lips to the rim of her ear, laving the lobe for a moment while enjoying her desperate mews for more, before he finally states the obvious, though it takes a lot of effort on his part. He isn't very good at confessions, but he manages this one well enough for the moment.

"_You're mine_. No one will ever take you from me. I'll kill them if they try. That's a promise."

"Good," she breathes, and she kisses him deeply, squirming beneath him for more.

He's too willing to comply. He wants to make her scream his name.

He wants her to know he's her demon.

oOo

The next morning, when he awakes in her bed, tangled up with her beneath the sheets, he realizes that there is a glowing star upon the floor.

He's halfway out of bed, ready to dive into it, when he stops and glances down at the nude girl beside him, still asleep.

He sighs.

He'll have to wait for her to wake up before he returns to Astale. He can't leave her, now. Not after all he said and did last night. He's not _that_ bad.

She'll just have to come with him, that's all there is to it.

oOo

When she starts training at the Academy, he is reminded again that that he lacks patience. And for that matter, so does she.

She is quick to learn but her magic is wild. The total opposite of Airi. He snaps at her frequently, always getting frustrated when she nearly destroys classrooms. She yells back that he should be helping her, instead of brooding like a horny, sullen boy while she's in class.

Their arguments always end with her storming outside, and him following her to make amends.

Making amends usually ends with clothing being shed in some remote corner of a garden where no one can find them. They're legit in Astale, after all.

And damn it, he _is_ horny.

oOo

_To hell with it_, he thinks one afternoon, as her mouth takes him in and he bucks beneath her. _It's legit on Earth, too. She's sixteen. It's been two years. And she's nearly his wife._

"Like that?" she purrs, releasing him with a swirl of her tongue.

"You enjoy winding me up, don't you?" he growls.

She smiles like a cat, and takes one of his balls into her mouth.

He yells hoarsely; his back convexes and he comes. Five minutes of Umi's mouth on him is enough to take him over the edge, but when she does something unexpected, it always takes him by surprise. Maybe that's why he's so in love with her – she always _surprises_ him, and yet she's predictable at the same time.

_Nothing like Airi_, he thinks. Airi is always predictable, with no surprises, it seems.

But maybe it's different for Aram.

As he collapses beneath her, she crawls up his chest, her breasts skimming his skin and her fingers splayed across hard, tanned muscle. "I'm not a little girl anymore, am I?" she murmurs, teasing. "You _told_ me to grow up, demon..."

He grabs her face and kisses her fiercely; a kiss that moves her jaw and takes her tongue with his. He can taste the salty, musky taste of himself within the warm cavern of her mouth.

"Wh-What were we f-fighting about...ag-ain?" she moans, stuttering over the words.

He doesn't respond right away. Instead, his lips move on, skating down her neck and pressing to the marriage seal on her chest.

_His._

When he gave it to her, he thought she would kill him for it. Instead, she made love to him for an entire night and day; refusing to leave his bed, and he couldn't say he was too upset about that, either.

"You nearly killed your professor today, Umi," he reminds her darkly, his lips still against her skin.

"Oh. That's right." She winces. "I _said_ I was sorry."

"So am I," he snaps. "Jeile is a pain in the ass. Next time, don't make it _nearly_. Really do it."

"Come on, he's not _so_ bad..."

"We're going to stop right here if you're going to side with Jeile."

She giggles – that childish giggle that once drove him insane.

(It still does, sort of.)

But it seems as though he's softened since the day he first met Airi. Umi's giggle doesn't seem quite so annoying as it once did.

"When are you going to marry me?" she murmurs, rubbing her bare, slick crotch against his.

Somehow, he responds without his voice cracking. "When you finish your training."

"I can't finish my training if I kill Jeile."

He snarls. "Do you have an argument for _everything_?"

She presses her lips to the seal on his own chest. "You're so easy to annoy, _Razalude_."

The way his name rolls off of her tongue makes his limbs loosen, and he rolls them over and presses her into the thick carpet of grass, pinning her hands so she can't use them.

"If you want me to fuck you, then stop trying to annoy me."

Umi smiles, that coy smile that she seems to flash only for him. "Anything you wish, then."

He wishes for everything these days.

And for the first time in his life, it seems like he just might get such wishes.

**~FIN**


End file.
